Pump bottle flow control apparatus

ABSTRACT

A pump bottle flow control apparatus consists of a bottle and pump combination. The bottle has a bottom and a peripheral side wall that rises from the bottom terminating at its upper extremity in a top opening. The bottle has an interior sump, serving as a lowermost portion of the bottle into which liquid flows by force of gravity. The pump is secured to the top opening of the bottle. The pump has a manual actuator and a rigid supply tube that extends into the bottle and terminates within the interior sump.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a pump bottle apparatus that providesbetter control of flow.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Pump bottle apparatus are in common use in North American households.They each consist of a bottle having a top opening, with a pump securedto the top opening. The pump has a manual actuator and a rigid supplytube that extends into the bottle. Upon movement of the manual actuator,liquids from the bottle are pumped up the rigid supply tube.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a pump bottle flowcontrol apparatus, which consists of a bottle and pump combination. Thebottle has a bottom and a peripheral side wall that rises from thebottom terminating at its upper extremity in a top opening. The bottlehas an interior sump, serving as a lowermost portion of the bottle intowhich liquid flows by force of gravity. The pump is secured to the topopening of the bottle. The pump has a manual actuator and a rigid supplytube that extends into the bottle and terminates within the interiorsump.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of the invention will become more apparent fromthe following description in which reference is made to the appendeddrawings, the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and arenot intended to in any way limit the scope of the invention to theparticular embodiment or embodiments shown, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view, in section, of a pump bottle flowcontrol apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view, in section, of a first embodiment of pumpflow control bottle apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view, in section, of a second embodiment of pumpflow control bottle apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view, in section, of a third embodiment of pumpbottle flow control apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The preferred embodiment, a pump bottle flow control apparatus generallyidentified by reference numeral 10, will now be described with referenceto FIGS. 1 through 4.

Structure and Relationship of Parts:

Referring to FIG. 1, pump bottle flow control apparatus 10 is acombination of a bottle 12 and a pump 14. Bottle 12 has a bottom 16 anda peripheral side wall 18 that rises from bottom 16, terminating at itsupper extremity 20 in a tubular neck 22 defining a top opening 24.Bottle 12 has an interior sump, generally identified by referencenumeral 26. Interior sump 26 is a lowermost portion of bottle 12, whichresults in liquid flowing into interior sump 26 by force of gravity.Pump 14 is secured over top opening 24 of bottle 12, by engagingexterior threads 28 on tubular neck 22. Pump 14 has a manual actuator 30and a rigid supply tube 32. Supply tube 32 extends through top opening24 into bottle 12 and terminates within interior sump 26. Interior sump26 has walls 34 converging to a relatively narrow terminus 36 at bottom16 of bottle 12. Supply tube 32 terminates within terminus 36 ofinterior sump 26.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is illustrated a first embodiment of pumpbottle apparatus 10 in which there are two converging walls 34. In thisembodiment, converging walls 34 serve to form a trough which directsliquids to interior sump 26.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is illustrated a second embodiment of pumpbottle apparatus 10 in which converging walls 34 form a conical funnelwhich directs liquids to interior sump 26.

Referring to FIG. 4, there is illustrated a third embodiment of pumpbottle apparatus 10 in which four converging walls 34 from a four sidedfunnel which directs liquids to interior sump 26.

Operation:

The use and operation of pump bottle apparatus 10 will now be describedwith reference to FIGS. 1 through 4. In the prior art, problems wereencountered in maintaining a steady flow of liquid from the bottle and,in particular, pumping the remnants of liquid from bottle 12. Referringto FIG. 1, with pump bottle apparatus 10 converging walls 34 of interiorsump 26 serve to direct liquid contents within bottle 12 by force ofgravity to supply tube 32. As a result, recovery of liquid from bottle12 is improved. As is apparent from a review of FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, thereare several ways in which converging walls 34 can be configured tocreate interior sump 26.

In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in itsnon-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included,but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to anelement by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibilitythat more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearlyrequires that there be one and only one of the elements.

It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that modifications may bemade to the illustrated embodiment without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as hereinafter defined in the Claims.

1. A pump bottle flow control apparatus, comprising in combination: abottle having a bottom and a peripheral side wall that rises from thebottom terminating at its upper extremity in a top opening, the bottlehaving an interior sump serving as a lowermost portion of the bottleinto which liquid flows by force of gravity; a pump secured to the topopening of the bottle, the pump having a manual actuator and a rigidsupply tube that extends into the bottle and terminates within theinterior sump.
 2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the sumphas defining walls converging to a relatively narrow terminus at thebottom of the bottle, and the rigid supply tube that extends into thebottle and terminates within the terminus of the interior sump, suchthat the converging walls direct liquid contents within the bottle byforce of gravity to the supply tube.
 3. The apparatus as defined inclaim 2, wherein there are two converging walls which form a trough todirect liquids to the sump.
 4. The apparatus as defined in claim 2,wherein the converging walls form a conical funnel to direct liquids tothe sump.
 5. The apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein there are atleast three converging walls which form a funnel to direct liquids tothe sump.
 6. The apparatus as defined in claim 5, wherein there are fourconverging walls which form a funnel to direct liquids to the sump.